Book Review: The Legitimacy of International Criminal Tribunals

Book review by Juan Pablo Pérez León Acevedo of The Legitimacy of International Criminal Tribunals, edited by Nobuo Hayashi and Cecilia Bailliet, CUP, 2017

Short introduction to the book review

In a scenario in which international criminal justice institutions, particularly the International Criminal Court, are facing unprecedented challenges, the publication of this edited collection is quite timely. The book primarily ‘investigates the legitimacy of ICTs [international criminal tribunals] critically and from a multidisciplinary perspective’. To flesh out this major objective, the book’s chapters (18, plus the introduction) are grouped around five thematic areas: ‘Theories and Perspectives’, ‘Norms and Objectives’, ‘Complementarity and Regionalism’, ‘Parties to the Proceedings’ and ‘States and NGOs’. These five parts of the book address the said main objective as applied to more specific research questions and objectives. Overall, the main objective of critically examining the legitimacy of international criminal tribunals is largely achieved. Notwithstanding their different disciplines, the authors certainly address the main research question. This explains the sense of unity and coherence that the book projects.